Freedom Western 8/21-quick thoughts/review

[jbitzer]

Got home today from the 8/21 Freedom Western reverse itinerary. This was our third cruise, but first official one with RCCL (had to cancel in 2009)

 

I could never remember to write specific details, so will do just a bullet point review/facts. Flight from PHL to Orlando was a non issue and rental car worked out after a few kinks.

 

Pre-cruise-8/20-Country Inn and Suites- fine, no issues. Son and husband went to Kennedy Space Center, and my daughter and I went to the Go Kart place. HINT: pick up a coupon book in the hotel, there will be a coupon for the Go Kart/Mini Golf place.

 

Cruise- bit of a line at the Budget rental car but we were enroute about 11 am. We got on ship, enjoyed the view. Ate at Windjammer, walked around, and we were the first ones in the Solarium!

 

Hint: Get your sports waivers completed online and stop off at Wipeout right when they open to get your sports wristbands... it gets crowded.

 

Flowrider: Awesome! All four of us had fun on it. I loved the boogie boarding. Hint: Ladies, please wear a Tshirt over your suit.. you will have to do some adjusting!

 

Dining Room: First night awful.. and asked for a switch. After the switch it was amazing! Wonderful service in Leonardo's!

 

Ice Skating: Fantastic.. the ice staff really go out of there way to help you/cheer you on. We did it twice.

 

Shows: We did prebook online and it may have not been necessary but it was *nice* not to wait in a longish line.

Now You See it was excellent.

Marquee- great numbers (favorite was Phantom of the Opera )..

Once Upon a Time- interesting use of props, but story line was somewhat weak.

 

Ice Show- excellent.. although some of the numbers could use a better transition or costume change time.

 

Now You See it- excellent!

 

Late Night Comedy- quite raunchy.. lots of f bombs/sex jokes. I'm not offended but warning others , that may be.

 

Headliner- Horrible! He was a impressionists that had a very dated show. I said it was like watching Rich Little in 1978 on Thats Incredible! I would say a good portion of the audience had no idea what he was trying to impersonate..

 

Other Entertainment: The Don't Forget the Lyrics game show was excellent.. wish they did it more than once. The 80s music trivia was very cut throat.. the 80's Dance party was great! Quest: a fantastic time.. our team (#11) was the winning team.

 

The Karoake booths in On Air were really fun.

 

Teen Programming: I had two teens. According to my older one, the 15-17 dance/mixer on Day 1 was full of "girls grinding on each other" and didn't go back. I checked with my other teen and they verified that it was a bit of a wilder crowd. My older one is shy so that didn't work out well.

 

The teen programming(especially for the older group) was a bit lacking. It was a lot of hanging out instead of structured things. My younger teen did say that the younger ones did do scavenger hunts and such but not much going on with the older teens. If anything, that was the only disappointment in the trip. If you have a shy older teen, it may be more difficult for them to mix in. As a result, we did find that my older one stayed more with us instead of the teen group, but my younger one had a great time with the younger teen group.

 

 

Ports:

Cozumel: didn't do much for me. Vendors a bit pushy early in the am.

Caymen Islands: Loved it! We had many of hte staff members on the tender back. Had a gread conversation with ladies from the spa and members of the ice staff.

 

Falmouth: Older teen and husband ziplined and loved it.

Labadee: Teens found it slightly boring and did do the coaster. They found the water a bit too calm.. they wished for bigger waves.

 

Staff: James and Belle did a great time organizing events. They seemed to really work well together. Ice staff was wonderful during open skate. One gentleman (bald/shaved head guy from Canada) was wonderful and very kind. Stateroom attendant and dining room staff were wonderful. There was another female staff attendant in the Flowrider (she had black hair and wore a hat) who was also wonderful!

 

No issues with the weather. It did rain for about 15 minutes in Labadee. We did have some rocking on Day 7.

 

Loved it... it has been hard to come home and cook for ourselves.

[suzw]

we were on the same cruise with you...couldnt agree more about the headliner show...awful! WE walked out in the middle..it was intolerable! The weather was amazing! Ship is beautiful. We ran into a major nightmare getting home to Phila..our flight was cancelled on sunday. We ended up flying to Newport News Virginia and renting a car!

[torbs]

we were on the same cruise with you...couldnt agree more about the headliner show...awful! WE walked out in the middle..it was intolerable! The weather was amazing! Ship is beautiful. We ran into a major nightmare getting home to Phila..our flight was cancelled on sunday. We ended up flying to Newport News Virginia and renting a car!

 

Wow, that really stinks.... Sorry to hear that!! "Everyday I'm Shufflin"

[LBumb]

great job